The movie that nobody really wanted to make now had a sequel that nobody thought would ever get made. The Empire Strikes Back was almost never produced because of an argument between George Lucas and Twentieth Century Fox. At the time, Fox owned all the rights and trademarks to the Star Wars universe. However, they had given the merchandise rights to George Lucas in exchange for his directing fee, believing them to be worthless. When George Lucas made millions, he established his own company- Lucasfilm- and he wanted to buy all the rights to his creations. If Fox didn't agree to sell, they'd get no sequels; not from Lucas anyway. Fox initially stood firm, but soon relented. George Lucas would get his empire and Fox would get its sequel.
